Is OpenDNS Umbrella HIPAA Compliant?

So the question your asking Is OpenDNS Umbrella HIPAA Compliant? Surely OpenDNS Umbrella and its software client is questionable, right? Is this a breach of HIPAA Compliance?

Lets Review The Basics…

Lets go back to the basics, OpenDNS is a company and service that extends the Domain Name System by adding features such as Logging, phishing protection, malware protection and content filtering in addition to DNS lookup, if its DNS servers are used. So knowing this it already seems to be better than Comcast DNS of 75.75.75.75 or Googles DNS of 8.8.8.8. Open DNS Umbrella actually provides something of value.

Let’s look at exactly how a DNS request works.

A DNS request starts when you try to access a computer on the internet. For example, you type PatrickDomingues.com in your browser address bar.

The first stop for the DNS request is the local DNS cache. As you access different computers, those IP addresses get stored in a local repository. If you visited PatrickDomingues.com before, you have the IP address in your cache.

If you don’t have the IP address in your local DNS cache, DNS will check with a recursive DNS server. Your Internal Domain Controller or Internet Service Provider (ISP) like Comcast’s DNS usually provides a recursive DNS server for this purpose.

The recursive DNS server has its own cache, and if it has the IP address, it will return it to you. If not, it will go ask another DNS server.

The next stop is the TLD name servers, in this case, the TLD name server for the .com addresses. These servers don’t have the IP address we need, but it can send the DNS request in the right direction.

What the TLD name servers do have is the location of the authoritative name server for the requested site. The authoritative name server responds with the IP address for PatrickDomingues.com and the recursive DNS server stores it in the local DNS cache and returns the address to your computer.

Your local DNS service gets the IP address and connects to PatrickDomingues.com to download all the glorious content. DNS then records the IP address in local cache with a time-to-live (TTL) value. The TTL is the amount of time the local DNS record is valid, and after that time, DNS will go through the process again when you request PatrickDomingues.com the next time.

So now we know how DNS works and we want to put this into practice, well we can change our internal DNS to always point to a protected DNS source like OpenDNS Umbrella. We can have our internal DNS servers set its forward lookups to OpenDNS addresses to make sure that everyone internally is being resolved by OpenDNS. For end user laptops we can also install the OpenDNS Umbrella client so they stay protected as well.

To the Point, Is OpenDNS Umbrella HIPAA Compliant?

HIPAA mandates that we have certen security practices in place like Content Filterting, Malware Protection and Logging which is a critical security feature that is required by HIPAA security rule. The Auditing and Reporting Feature enables system administrators to quickly identify potential incidents and events by users.

In Conclusion!

The answer is YES , well more so the answer being that OpenDNS Umbrella can actually assists you in Achieving HIPAA compliance with a simple to deploy cost effect solution.

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It has been found by the NSA that the Russian Spy Group called BlackEnergy is actively exploiting Exim mail servers with Sandworm.

The Exim mail server flaw can be exploited using a email containing a modified “MAIL FROM” field in a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) message. The Russians have been exploiting unpatched Exim servers since at least August, according the NSA’s advisory.

Once Sandworm compromises a target Exim server, it subsequently downloads and executes a shell script from a Sandworm-controlled domain to establish a persistent backdoor that can be used for reconnaissance, spying on mail messages, lateral movement and additional malware implantation.

“This script would attempt to do the following on the victim machine: Add privileged users; disable network security settings; update SSH configurations to enable additional remote access; and execute an additional script to enable follow-on exploitation,” according to the NSA.

Microsoft has pushed a hefty list of Patches on Tuesday to fix over 100 Vulnerabilities and 16 CVEs making the critical list.

This is actually the thrid mont that Microsoft has pushed over 100 vulnerabilities patches. May’s list does not contain any vulnerabilities currently being exploited in the wild, which is a good thing.

Hackers have been targeting Sophos XG Firewall due to the Zero-Day exploit that allows hackers to inject the Asnarok Malware.

Sophos said in their blog. “The attack affected systems configured with either the administration interface (HTTPS admin service) or the user portal exposed on the WAN zone. In addition, firewalls manually configured to expose a firewall service (e.g. SSL VPN, SPX Portal) to the WAN zone that shares the same port as the admin or User Portal were also affected.”

What was compromised?

It was found that the data impacted on the firewall was all local usernames and hashed passwords of any local user accounts. This would mean, local device admins, user portal accounts, and accounts used for remote access. However the passwords associated with external authentication like Active Directory (AD) or LDAP were not compromised.

Have I been compromised?

Well Sophos best practice is to make sure the firewall firmware is updating automaticlly so we hope that a patch was pushed to your firewall before falling victum to the Sophos XG Firewall Vulnerability.

So the question your asking Is OpenDNS Umbrella HIPAA Compliant? Surely OpenDNS Umbrella and its software client is questionable, right? Is this a breach of HIPAA Compliance?

Lets Review The Basics…

Lets go back to the basics, OpenDNS is a company and service that extends the Domain Name System by adding features such as Logging, phishing protection, malware protection and content filtering in addition to DNS lookup, if its DNS servers are used. So knowing this it already seems to be better than Comcast DNS of 75.75.75.75 or Googles DNS of 8.8.8.8. Open DNS Umbrella actually provides something of value.

Let’s look at exactly how a DNS request works.

A DNS request starts when you try to access a computer on the internet. For example, you type PatrickDomingues.com in your browser address bar.

The first stop for the DNS request is the local DNS cache. As you access different computers, those IP addresses get stored in a local repository. If you visited PatrickDomingues.com before, you have the IP address in your cache.

If you don’t have the IP address in your local DNS cache, DNS will check with a recursive DNS server. Your Internal Domain Controller or Internet Service Provider (ISP) like Comcast’s DNS usually provides a recursive DNS server for this purpose.

The recursive DNS server has its own cache, and if it has the IP address, it will return it to you. If not, it will go ask another DNS server.

The next stop is the TLD name servers, in this case, the TLD name server for the .com addresses. These servers don’t have the IP address we need, but it can send the DNS request in the right direction.

What the TLD name servers do have is the location of the authoritative name server for the requested site. The authoritative name server responds with the IP address for PatrickDomingues.com and the recursive DNS server stores it in the local DNS cache and returns the address to your computer.

Your local DNS service gets the IP address and connects to PatrickDomingues.com to download all the glorious content. DNS then records the IP address in local cache with a time-to-live (TTL) value. The TTL is the amount of time the local DNS record is valid, and after that time, DNS will go through the process again when you request PatrickDomingues.com the next time.

So now we know how DNS works and we want to put this into practice, well we can change our internal DNS to always point to a protected DNS source like OpenDNS Umbrella. We can have our internal DNS servers set its forward lookups to OpenDNS addresses to make sure that everyone internally is being resolved by OpenDNS. For end user laptops we can also install the OpenDNS Umbrella client so they stay protected as well.

To the Point, Is OpenDNS Umbrella HIPAA Compliant?

HIPAA mandates that we have certen security practices in place like Content Filterting, Malware Protection and Logging which is a critical security feature that is required by HIPAA security rule. The Auditing and Reporting Feature enables system administrators to quickly identify potential incidents and events by users.

In Conclusion!

The answer is YES , well more so the answer being that OpenDNS Umbrella can actually assists you in Achieving HIPAA compliance with a simple to deploy cost effect solution.

There are occasions where you will need to know How To Ping With Date and Time To TXT File Using CMD and a few Windows Ping commands can help. This will use a provide a date and a timestamp the result of each ping, with a bit of effort you can get it to do that. It’s quite useful if you specifically need to use the Windows Ping command.

The above will continuously ping the address with a time and date to a output log file which in this case is called pingtest.txt , press Ctrl+C to end the session. If you do not need an output file remove the redirection to an output file string if you want to show the results in the console window.

The Zeus and Sphinx Banking Trojan is showing off its ugly face more often now during COVID19, lurking and targeting desperate users looking for information about COVID19.

According to researchers Amir Gandler and Limor Kessem at IBM X-Force, the researchers observed a significant increase in volume in March 2020, of the Zeus and Sphinx’s malware. It was clear that the operators looked to take advantages around government relief payments to COVID19 affected people and companies.

In March 2020 these phishing and malspam campaigns emails tell targets that they need to fill out an attached form to receive coronavirus relief from the government. These new Zeus and Sphinx Banking Trojan variant is spreading via coronavirus-themed email sent to victims in the U.S., Canada and Australia, housed in malicious attachments named “COVID 19 relief,” according to an X-Force blog posting on Monday.

Stay vigilant and review these Email Security Tips you can also play the Introduction to Phishing video below.

How many Horrible Passwords are there? Let me tell you there are about 500 of them and we will show you the TOP Horrible Passwords To Use For 2020. Any password documented publicly or available in the darkweb can be used in a dictionary attack. This is a form of brute force attack technique for defeating a cipher or authentication mechanism by trying to determine its decryption key or passphrase by trying hundreds or sometimes millions of likely possibilities, such as words in a dictionary.

Additionally use the follow steps below for better password practices for 2020.

Character Length: There is no ideal character length for passwords. The more characters you have, the more difficult it is to crack. However, use at least 8 characters to meet the bare minimum security practice.

Character Type: Use a combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. It will narrow down the overall chances of your password being compromised. Example: Tave@35322!

Password Dictionaries: The password should not be listed in the popular password dictionaries. There are online tools where you can check against known password lists.

Password Manager: Are your passwords too long and complex to remember? Use a password manager. That should suffice.

No one can predict the future; however, you can be ready with a sound CoronaVirus Business Continuity Plan. This CoronaVirus business continuity checklist is the first step in the BCP process. The checklist is not an exhaustive list, it is a simple tool that can be used to ensure that the basic CoronaVirus Business Continuity Plan process has been initiated and the division management has considered what needs to be done to keep essential functions operating if an adverse event occurs. The CoronaVirus Business Continuity Plan Checklist is somewhat “information centric” as organisation’s reliance on information is increasing and its successful management provides a competitive advantage.

As the Covid-19 pandemic rises scammers are now using the fear of the public to capitalize by using a method of email phishing to steal money and data.

World Health Organisation Advice

There has been a growing confusion around the next steps to take, scammers can slip through the cracks. Health advice emails, advising people to sign up to doctor and fake links to “safety tips”.

Some emails are even claiming to have found a cure for the virus! As of yet, (13th March 2020) there is no vaccine so these emails should be deleted immediately.

To verify that an email is legitimate contact the World Health Organisation directly, and flag the phishing email as fraud if it is so to help others avoid making the mistake of giving these scammers their details.

The World Health Organisation has recommended to check the original email address to make sure it is a legitimate email, look closely- scammers will create emails as close to the WHO email as possible, so note any small inconsistencies.

The World Health Organisation has published the following checklist to make sure that you should refer to when assessing whether you have received a phishing email.

World Health Organization provided the following advice and will never ask the following:

They will never charge money to apply for a job, register for a conference, or reserve a hotel

They will never conduct lotteries or offer prizes, grants, certificates or funding through email

They will never ask you to donate directly to emergency response plans or funding appeals.

Scammers will be using emails, websites, phone calls, text messages, and faxes.

Many of these emails are pretending to be charitable causes, asking for donations to help research the virus! They are also pushing malware to have you download a file and then infecting yourself with ransomware. An example of a phishing email looks like the below:

Some common tip-offs that an email is phony are typos, grammatical mistakes, awkward language, missing words, extra spaces, and other signs that the email was written unprofessionally. Such emails might also ask you to look at an attachment or click a link and then give your personal information on a Web page or in a form. Or the sender’s email address might look suspicious. If you hover over the links you can even see that it would not direct you to legit URL.

Unpatched systems are still a major attack vector for hackers. These unpatched systems can invite major troubles for an organization. The issue can turn worse when the organization falls victim to a data breach and compromises confidential data.

Time and time again it was found that the same vulnerabilities kept being the top vector for exploitation via phishing attacks which the payload targeted specific flaws in the Microsoft product line.

It is no surprise that Unpatched Systems Are Still A Major Attack Vector that is being leveraged for cyber attacks. With the growing number of threats taking advantage of well-known and old vulnerabilities, it is imperative that organizations patch out of date systems to protect their data, systems and critical infrastructure against hackers.